I listened to Rush Limbaugh for years-as a teenager, through college, and into adulthood. His death has spurred a lot of thought about that time in my life and his influence on me. /1

At some point, I felt deeply convicted in a Psalm 1 kind of way. Rush tempted me away from loving my neighbor as myself, and I chose not to sit in the path of the scornful mocker. /2

Many Christians who praise him today note his articulation of true conservative principles with caveats around his sarcasm and irreverent language. /2

Do we really believe the Bible when someone tickles our ears? Limbaugh was a tickler. A sarcastic, malicious tickler. Let’s not caveat around the 2nd command, the Bible’s description of love for your enemies, or Ephesians 4’s warning against malice and slander./3

Limbaugh’s sarcasm and malice wrapped up in witty insights and insider talk set me up to accept Driscoll’s. But it was all sin. May God protect us all from tolerating such language again. /4